THE 24TH ANNUAL Phoenix International Aviation Symposium The Most Exclusive Gathering in the Industry Speaker Biographies Captain Ron Abel has been an airline pilot for more than 35 years and has served in numerous roles at the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA). Currently, he is chairman of the ALPA International Affairs Committee (IAC), which develops strategy and makes recommendations on issues related to international air transportation. The IAC monitors and recommends Association action on international air services negotiations, airline alliances and other such activities that have the potential to infl uence the piloting profession. He is also chair of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) Professional & Government Affairs Committee, which develops strategy in the areas of freedom of association, pensions, air service negotiations, globalization, contract enforcement and Ron Abel dispute resolution, and job security. Abel has written extensively on a variety of international and globalization issues for Air Line Pilot, ALPA’s offi cial journal. He started his airline career with Air Wisconsin in 1978 and moved to United Airlines in 1995. He is currently an Airbus A320 captain based in Chicago. Bruce Ashby has been the CEO of the oneworld alliance since December 2010. His airline industry experience began in 1987 as a consultant, and then in 1989 he became Manager of Operations Research with United Airlines. He later held several positions with United, including Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis and Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. He then moved to Delta Airlines as Vice President of Marketing Development. In 1996, he joined US Airways as Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis. In his nine-year tenure with the airline, he held a number of senior positions, including serving as Senior Vice President of Alliances and President of US Airways Express, and fi nally as its Executive Vice President of Bruce Ashby Marketing. In late 2005, Ashby moved to India to launch IndiGo as its CEO. After more than three years leading the Indian airline, he was recruited in late 2008 to serve as CEO of Saudi Arabia’s SAMA Airlines where he lead the company until 2010. Randy Babbitt is Senior Vice President of Labor Relations for Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest low-cost carrier. Babbitt is responsible for all negotiations, communication and ongoing relationships between the Dallas-based airlines and the various unions that represent airline employees. Prior to joining Southwest in 2012, Babbitt led the FAA from June 2009 through December 2011. He also spent more than eight years on the FAA Management Advisory Council. Babbitt is a veteran pilot, fl ying 25 years for Eastern Airlines and he was elected President of the Air Line Pilots Association Union, serving for eight years. He founded and led Eclat Consulting as Randy Babbitt President for seven years and remained there when it merged with Oliver Wyman Consulting as a senior partner for several years. Michael Bell is a consultant in Spencer Stuart’s Miami offi ce and co-leads the fi rm’s global aviation, aerospace and defense practice. He provides top-level executive search consulting services to a broad range of clients in aviation, spanning the airline, airport and aerospace sectors. Bell has led senior-level searches for numerous aviation organizations around the globe. In addition to his primary focus on the aviation industry, he serves the executive recruitment Michael J. Bell needs of clients in related sectors such as tourism, hospitality and transportation. Bell is a regular speaker at aviation industry conferences, including those hosted by Airports Council International, Air Transport World/Global Aviation Associates, IATA, Latin America & Caribbean Aviation and Unisys Transportation. He also has authored several industry studies on leadership, including Crafting the Airline Leadership Team for the 21st Century, The New Breed: Profi ling the Next Generation of Airline Leaders in Latin America and Crafting the Airport Leadership Team for the 21st Century. Enrique J. Beltranena is General Director and CEO of Volaris, Mexico’s low-cost airline. He has been involved in the aviation industry since becoming General Director and CEO of Aviateca, the Guatemala-based airline, in 1995. He also worked at Grupo TACA from 1997 until joining Volaris in 2006. Beltranena has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame in Monaco in 2012, Entrepreneur of the Year in Mexico in 2011, and considered one of the “300 Leaders in México” by Líderes Magazine from 2007-2014. Recently, he was awarded with the National Order of Enrique J. Beltranena Merit (Badges of the Knight) by the president of France. Ian Brown is the Chief Executive Offi cer for Rentalcars.com, the world’s largest car rental price comparison and booking platform. With customers in more than 180 countries, Rentalcars.com’s global customer base is supported in over 40 languages online and in 24/7 contact centers. Rentalcars.com is part of Priceline Group, the world’s leading travel company, alongside Booking.com, Priceline.com, Kayak, Agoda and OpenTable. Brown joined Rentalcars.com in 2014 as chief operating offi cer. He previously spent 16 years at Oliver Wyman, where he led the Travel & Leisure and Commercial Effectiveness practices globally. Ian Brown Brown holds a master of engineering in Engineering, Economics & Management from The Queen’s College, Oxford. John Byerly, who is recognized as the “father of open skies in the United States,” advises U.S. and international clients on a full range of international aviation issues, including negotiations, economic and environmental regulation, aviation safety and security, government relations, and strategic planning. He draws on more than 30 years of service in the U.S. Department of State; extensive contacts in the private sector, international organizations, and governments around the globe; and a record of successfully establishing Open Skies as the global template for air transportation. While at the U.S. State Department, he oversaw the negotiation of market-opening air John Byerly transport agreements with more than 70 countries and led U.S. delegations that secured Open Skies accords with Germany, France, the European Union and its Member States, and Japan. Byerly is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, studied European and German law as a Fulbright Scholar in Berlin, and has a law degree from Yale Law School. Captain Tim Canoll (Delta) is the tenth president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), which represents more than 51,000 professional airline pilots in the United States and Canada, and is the largest nongovernmental aviation safety organization in the world. He was elected by the union’s Board of Directors and began his four-year term on January 1, 2015. As ALPA’s Chief Executive and Administrative Offi cer, Captain Canoll oversees daily operations of the Association and presides over the meetings of ALPA’s governing bodies, which set policy for the organization. He is also the chief spokesman for the union, advancing pilots’ Capt. Tim Canoll views in the airline industry before Congress, Parliament, government agencies, airline and other business executives, and also the news media. Captain Canoll is a Delta MD-88 captain based in Atlanta. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former Navy Reserve F/A-18 strike fi ghter squadron commanding offi cer. As Vice President and General Manager for North America, Dr. Chi manages all aspects of Air China’s business in the region from its headquarters in Los Angeles. He manages more than 175 US-based Air China employees and oversees the marketing and operations for the growing number of passenger fl ights (60 every week) between North America and China. He is a much-sought after speaker on topics ranging from US-China relations to trade, tourism and aviation. His incisive analysis and understanding of issues affecting the United Dr. Zhihang Chi States/China and the travel industry, coupled with his exceptional ability to articulate scholarly ideas into easily comprehensible language, makes him a top choice for TV and print journalists seeking an informed opinion on these matters. Dr. Chi’s experience includes a number of increasingly responsible positions for Northwest Airlines from 1994-2003. He joined Air China in 2004. Dr. Chi was born in China and earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Jon Cobin serves as Executive Vice President of Gogo’s Global Airline Business Group, leading the group that manages Gogo’s relationships with commercial airlines and acquires new airline partnerships. In addition, he leads Gogo’s strategy group. Cobin joined Gogo in 2010 as Senior Vice President of Project and Operations Management. Prior to joining Gogo, Cobin served as the Vice President of Strategic Planning at Centennial Communications and was instrumental in formulating the company’s overall strategy as well as planning and executing major growth initiatives and milestone transactions. Prior to Centennial, Cobin held positions of increasing responsibility as a strategy consultant Jon Cobin at Dean & Company and in investment banking at J.P. Morgan. He received his master’s degree in business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College. Jim Compton is Vice Chairman and Chief Revenue Offi cer for United Airlines. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s domestic and international operations, sales, corporate development and alliances, network pricing and revenue management, and network planning. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Offi cer for Continental Airlines. At Continental, he was instrumental in launching EliteAccess, the airline’s priority service for its most valuable customers. Before joining Continental, Compton worked at United Parcel Service of America from 1993 to 1995.